How many hours do anesthesiologist work?

Nurse anesthetist are responsible for administering anesthesia to patients undergoing surgery or suffering from acute pain caused by an injury or illnesses and patients that are afflicted by a medical emergency such as cardiac arrest and in situations where an individual may require immediate medical intervention.

During anesthesia treatment the nurse anesthesiologist will talk to their patients to inform them of how the anesthesia may affect them and answer questions related to the anesthesia treatment, research the individuals background and medical records to make sure the anesthesia does not cause any harmful side affects, monitor normal and abnormal vital signs, observe blood pressure changes, check body temperature and air passages tailor the anesthesia treatment to the patients needs to ensure that the patient is responding well to the medication during the treatment process and operation.

In terms of a nurse anesthetist work schedule their hours are often dependent factors such as what health care organization they work for, what that organizations medical needs are, the size of the staff and number of patients at that health care facility, the hours of operation the health care facility is open and how often the anesthesiologist is needed to administer anesthesia among a number of other factors.

One of the must important factors that affect the number of hours a nurse anesthetist may work in a given week has to do with the health care setting they work in and their hours of operations.

Nurse anesthetist that work at a hospital may end up working 8 hour shifts, 10 hour shifts, 12 hour shifts , 16 hour shifts or 24 hour shifts depending on the needs of the hospital and the agreements they have made with their employer.

Since hospitals are open 24 /7 nurse anesthetist may work any time of the day or night and can end up working 40 – 50 hours or more per week.

Nurses that work shorter shifts (around 8 – 12 hours a day) may an average of 4 – 5 days per week, while anesthetist that work longer shifts such a 24 hour rotation shift may only work 2 – 3 days per week.

On the other hand nurse anesthetist that work at a doctor’s office or in a clinic may only work during business operating hours such as working 8am to 5pm Monday thru Friday or whatever hours of operation the clinic is open for.

Anesthesiologist that work extended hours may be required to work more because of a shortage at the hospital, an employee that had to call out sick, an unexpected emergency or for a number of other reasons.

Anesthesiologist may also work additional hours voluntarily in order to collect more overtime and pay or to accumulate more vacation/sick time of the health care organization they work for allows nurses to earn additional days based on hours worked.